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Home / Entertainment

Game review: Batman: Arkham Origins

Chris Schulz
By Chris Schulz
NZ Herald·
27 Nov, 2013 04:30 PM2 mins to read

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Cover of Batman: Arkham Origins.

Cover of Batman: Arkham Origins.

Admit it - you've always wanted to be Batman. Ever since you were a kid you wanted to ride his motorbike, wear his cape, take on the Joker and work your way through every item on his utility belt.

That's what makes the Arkham gaming trilogy so great - you get to live out your childhood dreams.

As the title suggests, Arkham Origins is a prequel to the hugely popular releases Arkham Asylum and Arkham City - but it's not quite the adventurous new direction fans of the franchise would have welcomed.

Instead, Origins recreates the gloomy night-time adventuring and button-mashing arcade thrills of the first two instalments with a new roster of baddies for a young Batman to annihilate, without messing around with the formula.

Yep, getting into another brawl with Gotham City's low-level criminals can be annoying and time-consuming, and they're really only useful for practising your combos.

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And Arkham Origins does come with occasional "what the hell do I do next" moments.

But where it comes up trumps is its new roster of baddies for Batman to pummel. The main protagonist is Black Mask, a creepy cult figure who puts a bounty on Batman's head, attracting eight assassins - including Bane, The Joker and Killer Croc, a teeth-gnashing monstrosity who is involved a brilliantly epic first-up battle.

Moments like that make Arkham Origins worthy of your time. However, Warner Bros Games will need to add a few more tools to Batman's utility belt next time around.

Stars:

3.5/5

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Platform:

PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360, PC

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Rating:

M

Click here to buy Batman: Arkham Origins.

Follow @nzherald_ent on Twitter for all the latest entertainment news.

- TimeOut

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